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Station Trading - Calculating Total ISK
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Malivain
Artificial Purity
#1 - 2013-01-01 18:43:38 UTC
Hello everyone. I'm a few months into station trading and have been keeping track of my recent daily trading efforts using a spreadsheet. One issue that I initially struggled with was determining an approximate measure of total ISK. I've seen it done a few different ways, and would like to know what others usually do. Currently, I use the following calculation:

W = Current ISK in Wallet
B = Amount in Escrow from Buy Orders
S = Amount from Sell Orders
T = Transaction Tax
I = Item Inventory Estimate (which I ensure is as small as possible, due to inaccuracies)
H = Ship Hanger Estimate (again, kept to a minimum)

Total (Approximate) ISK = W + B + (1 - T) * S + I + H

Note: The station inventory and ship hanger only contain items from trades, nothing else.

My rationale is that the broker's fee has already been paid for once buy/sell orders are setup, and the transaction tax occurs once a sell order is complete. If I were to cancel all of my buy orders, I would retain whatever ISK was invested in escrow. This assumes all sell orders are approximately sold for the value set, which is not always the case, but I can't determine any other alternative.

Lastly, I refrain from holding onto items in my inventory; I keep long-term investments on different characters. So, as long as my item inventory + ship hanger estimate is small, it won't affect my overall approximation much.

Do you like this calculation? Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.
Badger Mark
Man Boobs Incorporated
#2 - 2013-01-01 23:28:02 UTC  |  Edited by: Badger Mark
Personally i wouldn't bother with spreadsheets.

I don't see the need to know the value of your assets to 2 decimal places unless you have OCD.

Personally i've made billions on trading but the easiest way to keep track of your profits is this.


I don't keep spreadsheets but if you want to make a since daily profit estimate excluding broker fees and taxes.

Just do this.

add wallet balance to buy orders to sell orders and that's your total

Do this daily and then you can have an estimate. If you have margin trading then change the equation accordingly.


I don't keep spreadsheets because they are a waste of time imo.

If you prefer to then go ahead but counting pennies isn't worth the effort imo.

But if you are making billions then why put up with extra work?
Dea della Morte
Perkone
Caldari State
#3 - 2013-01-02 00:19:21 UTC
Spreadsheets are useful for looking at your growth over a period of time.

However, going back into station trading, I just look at my isk, today for example, I began with 234m capital, received 100m in loans, put it all in escrow, and ended the day at 367m isk. -100m +(10m interest) was 257m

Profits :D
Yvormessier
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#4 - 2013-01-02 15:40:44 UTC
Like another poster said

Isk in wallet +sell orders + isk in escrow + inventory not yet up for sale does the job quickly and simply
Reikoku Ao
High Seas Empire
#5 - 2013-01-02 16:45:27 UTC
For those who don't bother keeping spreadsheets on their own, EVE Stats ( https://ohheck.co.uk/EVEStats/home.php ) can track most of the aforementioned stuff and display it in a nice graph. You'll need to give it your API though.

In the end it doesn't matter that much if the sum of everything is 100% accurate. More important is to see the progress that you're making. So once you've decided on a way to estimate your wealth, always keep it the same to be able to track yourself.
Alex Grison
Grison Universal
#6 - 2013-01-03 20:39:25 UTC
you are going too in -depth

Wallet + Escrow + Sell orders

is all you really need.

yes
Caelum Dominus
Ministry of War
Amarr Empire
#7 - 2013-01-05 10:45:07 UTC
Alex Grison wrote:
you are going too in -depth

Wallet + Escrow + Sell orders

is all you really need.


That's not accurate at all; you are not considering your inventory.
Aina Sasaki
Garoun Investment Bank
Gallente Federation
#8 - 2013-01-05 13:14:11 UTC
I simply add my wallet, escrow, sell orders, and whatever junk I have in my hangars that I mean to sell. I do not include, for example, ships that I actively use.

- Rei
Vaerah Vahrokha
Vahrokh Consulting
#9 - 2013-01-05 13:20:52 UTC
Download jEvEAssets and leave the computer's job to the computer. Idea

EvE Online portal | EvE markets tutorials
shar'ra matcevsovski
Doomheim
#10 - 2013-01-05 13:37:35 UTC  |  Edited by: shar'ra matcevsovski
Malivain wrote:

Do you like this calculation? Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.


sorry I find it rather useless because...

1. There is no huge practicly use of this, as nobody is going to calculate manually his assets, when you can simply use the API to check what you got (or a program that does that)

2. anyone with a comon sense knows how to get this calculation done, not worth making a forum post imho

I hope it didnt sound too rudeUgh

shar'ra phone home
Felicity Love
Doomheim
#11 - 2013-01-05 14:28:50 UTC  |  Edited by: Felicity Love
Or go for what I like to call the "ultimate lazy method"... define what a "trading session" is for you... base it on your gametime or gameplay style... whatever works for you.

For example, let's say you like to daytrade -- in and out in a day or less. So long as the number you end up with in your wallet (at the end of your "session") is bigger than what you started with you win.

Obviously, this will not appeal to folks who adore spreadsheets and love to export data for various reasons. I readily admire those who have the patience to be exacting and precise in their numbers. It consistently pays out for them. I have no such ability.

Simply put, once you've got some experience with the EVE market, you can just eyeball the numbers and run with it.

*YMMV*.

"EVE is dying." -- The Four Forum Trolls of the Apocalypse.   ( Pick four, any four. They all smell.  )
Malivain
Artificial Purity
#12 - 2013-01-05 21:05:45 UTC  |  Edited by: Malivain
Thanks for your input everyone. I'll respond to a few points that others have made below.

Frist, as Dea della Morte mentioned, I'm doing this to track my growth over time. I compute the 5-day and 20-day averages (like in the market window) to see trending increases and decreases in my total ISK, ISK per day, and my "efficiency" calculated in ISK per hour spent trading. It also enables me to track experiments with various strategies so that I may improve myself. Without any feedback, you might be stuck forever at some sub-optimal strategy. This is crucial for personal development. Plus, it's just fun for me personally, which is why all of us play games to begin with.

Moving to the topic of other tools, e.g. EVE Stats and jEvEAssets. I'm not sure that these include efficiency graphs or record both the time you began to trade as well as the time spent trading. Plus, spreadsheets are much more flexible in general. I can obtain a lot of useful information with very little effort. While I do plan on writing a program eventually, I currently just want spend time trading and playing EVE rather than programming a trading application. I suppose the next step would be to delve into the API with a spreadsheet though, assuming it's possible. Lastly, I am able to use Google Docs for this, which means I can use it on any computer I happen to be on that has internet, such as a friend's house or my phone, as well as share it with corp mates.

From what others have said, this sounds like what others have been using. I just needed a quick and accurate equation so that I can copy a few numbers and plug them into a spreadsheet at the end of a trading session. I couldn't find the equation anywhere online, so I figured I'd just ask.

(shar'ra matcevsovski - It wasn't rude. It's perfectly valid feedback. Big smile )